I woke up with a shout.

I quickly looked around to see I was back in the tent. After thanking God I was still alive, I looked over to see that Dashie was not in her sleeping bag.

The humid air assaulted my face as I stepped out of our tent. Lizzy was staring at the campfire, clearly worried about something. Her husband and daughter were still asleep. She looked up and saw me.

“Thank God you are awake! I can't find my daughter Elle! Carl went out to try and find her, but he hasn't come back in hours!”

I put a hand on her shoulder. “Dashie is gone too. I’ll go look for the three of them, you stay here.” Lizzy nodded, and I packed a few things I needed, and went out into the forest.

--------

Being a drug dealer has its perks. I know when someone is trying to cover something up, and I knew Lizzy was hiding something. I had no idea what, but it wasn’t good. She had been faithful, always buying Cocaine for a fair price. I had no idea if she consumed It or what, but she looks like she’s NEVER had any drugs in her lifetime.

I spotted some hoof prints in the dirt, and knelt down to inspect them. They were too big to be Dashie’s, so I suspected a stallion or colt.

“Hello, human.”

I whipped around to see the mane six (what was left of them, anyway) and the Princess. I drew out my magnum, only to have it torn away by magic from Twilight.

“The human said you’d be looking for Rainbow, and she’s lucky that you did.” The Princess said grimly.

“What do you mean?” I hissed. That’s when Lizzy came out from behind her.

“I’m sorry, Brandon! But they had Carl and Elle, I had no choice!”  She pleaded. I nodded at her, which gave her a sigh of relief.

“She held up her bargain, release the two others.” Celestia ordered to Twilight. She nodded, and her horn began to glow. A white flash of light occurred, and Ellie and Carl were standing in front of Celestia. Lizzy rushed to embrace them, but Celestia’s horn glowed, and they disappeared. Lizzy looked confused and hurt.

“We had a deal!” She said, turning to the Princess.

“We did, but you must make a choice now.” Her horn glowed again, and Elle and Dashie appeared on tree, tied and gagged around the base. Lizzy was teleported in front of them, and a knife was given to her.

“You must kill one or the other. If you refuse, they both die. If the other human rushes, they both die.” She said, turning to me. Lizzy looked at me with a worried face, and I gave her the same face back. She looked at the knife, then at her daughter and Dashie. Both had tears pouring from their eyes, and they both were bruised and beaten.

Lizzy walked over to Dashie, and raised her knife into the air.

“LIZZY!” I shouted.

She then quickly turned around, and hurled the knife at the group of ponies. The knife struck Rarity in the eye, and her corpse hit the ground with a thud.

I pulled out my handgun I had concealed, and fired at the Princess. She quickly made a magic shield around herself, Twilight and Fluttershy.

“LIZZY! UNTIE THE GIRLS!” I commanded. Lizzy got to work as I taunted Celestia.

“Why don’t you come out from that shield? Or are you too afraid? You poor excuse for an alicorn!” I spat. Celestia’s face turned to pure anger.

“YOU SHALL NOT TREAT ME OR MY LOYAL SUBJECTS LIKE THAT!” She roared, flying up in her shield. It burst, and I was sent flying back. I hit a tree hard, and fell to the ground with a thud. I moaned in pain as I tried to get up, but Celestia’s hoof pushed down on me and held me to the ground.

“Your life end now!” She said as her horn glowed. My body felt like it was being torn limb from limb. As the pain grew, I moaned louder and louder until I let out a scream. Right when I was about to die, a shot rang out, and Celestia cried out, falling to the ground. Her spell was broken, and I looked over to see Lizzy with a revolver in her hand, Elle in another, and Dashie wrapped around her neck like a dog.

I hopped up and rushed over to them, and grabbed Dashie.

“Are you ok?” I asked. She was still in pain from the beating she took, but she looked fine enough to not need any medical treatment.

“Yea. I’m ok, I guess. A bit bruised, but I’m fine otherwise.” She smiled as she wrapped her hooves around my neck. “I’m just glad you’re ok”

I hugged her back, and looked at Lizzy, who was checking on Elle. I looked back at Celestia, who had disappeared, as well as Twilight and Fluttershy, but I could see her blood when Lizzy had shot her.

“Nice shot.” I said to Lizzy. She smiled.

“I was aiming for her head, but my hand shaking plus the wind didn't help much, so I ended up shooting her waist.”

“As long as she’s been shot, that’s all I care about.” I said in response. “Let’s get back to camp, we need to start packing up and move.”

“Ok, we can still use the car, since-“She stopped.

“What’s wrong?” I asked

“What about Carl?”

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